Kanpur’s residential areas more polluted: PCB report

KANPUR: Air pollution in some residential areas of the city is far more than the commercial places, according to a report presented by the regional pollution control board.
Dust emitting from broken or dug up roads, garbage burning, smoke emission from old and outdated vehicles and unprotected building construction are the main reasons for high air pollution in the residential localities such as Kidwai Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Baconganj, Bada Chauraha, Moolganj etc, said Ghanshyam Dwivedi, official of regional pollution control board.
Talking to TOI, he said, "Earlier, it was the impression that air pollution was more in commercial areas but, after pollution control board's report, it was found that several residential localities have left commercial areas behind in air pollution".
The instrument to measure air pollution installed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at Brahmanagar near Gumti can measure PM 2.5 and PM 10, and its capacity to cover the area is around 500 metres, said the official. Besides, regional pollution control board had also installed manual air pollution measuring instruments at residential areas including Kidwai Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Dada Nagar, IIT campus, Kalyanpur, Rama Devi and Jareeb Chowki, Dwivedi further said.
Recently, regional pollution control board New Delhi, had identified 15 cities of UP as 'non- attainment' cities due to high air pollution. The cities are Lucknow, Agra, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Noida, Khurja, Firozabad, Anpara, Gajraula, Jhansi, Mordabad, Rai Bareli, Bareilly and Kanpur Nagar.
He said the central pollution control board had also chalked out an action plan for these cities and asked the DMs to implement the plan. DM Kanpur Nagar, Vijay Vishwas Pant, had recently convened a meeting of officials of pollution control board, KMC, RTO and other departments and asked them to work to tackle air pollution.
Explaining the short term plan, the DM said, "Raids should be conducted by KDA and KMC on under-constructed buildings to know whether their owners or contractors have taken steps to check pollution". Road cutting is another major reason of rising air pollution. There should also be some coordination between the departments, he added.
The DM has directed the RTO department to take action against old and obsolete vehicles and smoke emitting vehicles being plied on roads. Similarly, KMC should take effective measures to check garbage burning in the open. Raids should also be made in industrial areas to control air quality, he said.